


Internal Affairs

by MagnificentMane



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-01 01:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6495124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagnificentMane/pseuds/MagnificentMane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two months into Nick's new job as a police officer at the ZPD, he and Judy are visited by every cop's worst nightmare: the Internal Affairs Bureau. Will they have to turn in their badges? Will they have to leave each other? And why are both agents wearing sunglasses inside?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Alright, dipping my toes back into the fanfiction world for the first time in a while. Reviews of all kinds are welcome. Thank you to all my editors on reddit. They’re my redditors!-wait

If there was one thing that Nick Wilde hated about his new job as a ZPD police officer, it was the mornings. In his old life, he set his own hours. His days rarely started before ten, and if he wasn’t feeling like working in the sun, there were plenty of saps to con at night. Now, however, he had to be up at 6:30 A.M. sharp, and at the station by 8. He had heard enough stories about officers showing up late and being saddled with traffic duty for two months to ensure he was at the station at 7:45. His watch told him it was precisely 7:43 as he opened the glass doors leading into the precinct. Clawhauser was reading something on his computer when he saw Nick walk in. The portly cheetah waved excitedly.

“Good morning, Nick!”

Nick smiled. Starting the day with Clawhauser’s cheeriness made every morning more bearable.

“Morning, Clawhauser. Anything interesting on ZNN?”

Since he spent a majority of each day surfing the web, Clawhauser was far and away the best source of gossip at the precinct. Regular news, too, but mostly gossip.

“Ooh, yes! You won’t believe what happened at Gazelle’s concert-“

Nick would never know whether or not he’d believe what happened, because the door opened and Clawhauser trailed off, eyes locked on the door. Nick turned, and instantly understood why. As a hustler, Nick had developed an instinct for animals. He could take one quick look and someone and know if they were a likely mark, how confident they were, even roughly how intelligent. For these two, however, Nick didn’t even need a second. From the moment he clapped eyes on the badger and the wolf who just walked in, his instinct started shouting at him to book it. Both wore black suits, and dark sunglasses, and the badger carried a simple tan briefcase. But the way they carried themselves, was unbearably intense. They weren’t animals, they were heat seeking missiles in fur. He hoped he wasn’t their target. Both he and Clawhauser stared in silence as the pair walked up to the front desk.

“Good morning, officer. I need to meet with Chief Bogo.”

The badger’s voice was soft, but not quiet, not really. Quiet voices got drowned out, but that voice was the voice everyone else would lower their own voices to hear. It was a dangerous voice, and it had paralyzed Clawhauser. 

“Uh….I’m sorry, y-y-you’ll need to make an appointment, and-“

The badger cut him off by pulling a badge out from his suit jacket and showing Clawhauser. Annoyingly, Nick couldn’t see the badge from his angle. Underneath his fur, the blood drained from the cheetah’s face.

“Oh. Okay. You can go right up to his office.”

The badger smiled the smile of a predator sitting down to a meal of rare steak.

“Thank you, officer.”

The suited pair walked away. The wolf had stayed completely silent, and the badger had remained impeccably polite, yet the poor desk officer looked like he had been shot. As the two passed him, the badger turned and looked at Nick, and nodded slightly. Nick swallowed, and nodded back. His gut had frozen. Nick turned back to Clawhauser, shaken.

“Clawhauser….who the cuss were those two?”

Clawhauser’s eyes didn’t break off from the two suits when he answered.

“IAB”, he whispered. Nick frowned slightly.

“What’s the IAB?”

The cheetah turned to Nick.

“The Internal Affairs Bureau. They’re like cops for cops. They report directly to the Mayor, and they got all kinds of crazy powers. They investigate police, make sure they’re following the rules. One word from them, and your career is over.”

Nick blanched.

“Jeez. They sure looked the part.”

His joke fell flat as they both look up to where the chief’s office was, where unstoppable force was about to meet an immovable object.

***

Chief Bogo liked simple. Simple meant the city was running smoothly. And, thanks to the efforts of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, his job had been comparatively simple for the last 11 months.There was a soft knock on the door, drawing Bogo away from his computer. Strange, he had no appointments that morning. And he had specifically instructed Clawhuaser to make sure everyone who came to see him got an appointment. The cheetah might be kind to a fault, but he was also incredibly persistent. It wasn’t like him to let something like this slide. Still, Bogo wasn’t doing anything essential. 

“Come in.”

The door opened, and two large packages of complicated walk in. Their dress and demeanor screamed bureaucrat at him, and the only thing Bogo hated more than insubordinate officers was bureaucrats. Hated, and maybe, just a little, feared.

“Good morning gentlemen. What can I do for you?” Bogo’s normal reaction to an unknown pair coming into his office would be icy disdain, but his instinct told him it would be best not to anger these two.

“Good morning chief,” the badger said, smiling slightly. It set Bogo on edge. “I am Officer Murray, and this is my colleague, Officer Pierre.” He gestured to his partner, who was sniffing the air intently. “We are from the Internal Affairs Bureau.”  
On the inside, Chief Bogo felt a rare twinge of panic. What the cuss were the IAB doing here?

“Oh. I see. Well please, have a seat.”

“No thank you, we’d prefer to remain standing.”

“Very well. What brings you two to the precinct?”

“Our visit here is twofold: firstly, we are to do a general sweep, ensure nothing has grown legs and walked out of the evidence lock up. Second, we have received a few reports about two of your newest officers. The fox, Officer Nick Wilde-“

Not surprising, Bogo thought.

“-and the rabbit, Officer…”

Murray reached into his jacket and pulled out a scrap of paper.

“Ah, yes, Officer Judy…“

***

“HOPPS!”

Nick practically shouted as he ran into the cubicle he and his partner shared. His tiny partner turned around to stare at him quizzically.

“Nick? What the cuss-“

“Carrots! Quick! I need to know: the IAB are here. How scared should we be?”

Her eyes went from confused to terrified in a second.

“The IAB? Oh cuss…Nick, you cut ties with everyone from your old life when you joined the force, right?”

Nick shuffled a bit.

“I mean, mostly, yeah…”

He yelped in pain as Judy launched herself out of her chair and punched his arm.

“You idiot! The IAB goes through everything with a fine toothed comb! They see you talking to one of your old hustling buddies, you get put under the microscope!”

Nick rubbed his arm, feeling miffed.

“Oh, c’mon, Carrots, I got nothing to fear! I was pardoned for anything I’d done before the Night Howlers incident.”

Judy snorted. He found it weirdly adorable.

“You dumb fox, you don’t know how these guys work. They get a lead, they clamp on to it, and they don’t. Let. Go. They turn over everything. Bank accounts, call records, security footage, if it leaves a record, they’re on it.”

“They can do that? Even we don’t have that much power.”

“The mayor gives them that power. The mayor has decided that a crooked cop is so damaging, it’s worth entrusting a few select investigators with incredible power.”

“Jeez…now I’m actually a little-“

The intercom crackled to life.

“Officers Hopps and Wilde, please report to my office.” It was Bogo, and he didn’t sound happy. Then again, his default state was unhappy, so that wasn’t unusual. But there was an edge to his voice, that made the cops exchange nervous glances. Nick mouthed,  
“You don’t think…” Judy responded simply by shrugging. It could be they were being given a special assignment, it could be the IAB was bringing down the hammer.

There was only one way to find out. 

***

Normally, Nick and Judy in Bogo’s office meant one of two things: Nick had crossed a line during the morning briefing, or Judy had been overzealous in the pursuit of a case. Today, however, Bogo seemed to be on their side as he took off his glasses and rubbed his temples.

“I’m going to be blunt with you two,” he began. 

“What a surprise,” Nick muttered under his breath, which earned him an elbow from his partner. 

“I’m sure you both know by now that the Internal Affairs Bureau is here. And they’re here investigating…you two.”

Though it wasn’t unexpected, both partners felt their guts turn to ice, and two of brains immediately went into overdrive, trying to figure out what they were being investigated for.

“They’re gonna be setting up an interrogation in the usual room. They wanted to talk to you first, Judy.”

The rabbit swallowed and nodded. Bogo nodded back.

“Alright. Nick, while Judy’s being interrogated, stick around the office. I’m sure you have paperwork you need to do. Dismissed.”

And with that, Bogo turned back to his work. Judy and Nick left the office, Nick trembling slightly. Judy noticed and frowned.

“What are you worried about, you sly fox?”

Despite his fear, Nick smiled.

“Clever bunny. I’m just…worried that my first honest job in my life is gonna be taken away from me because of some overzealous bureaucrat. You know that I’ve gone straight, but they don’t. All they see is a sleazy fox who’s suddenly become a cop.”

“Just tell the truth, Nick.” She smiled slyly. “For once in your life.”

Nick smirked and gave her a light punch in the shoulder. Judy looked around, checking to make sure they were alone in the hallway. She jumped up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re going to be just fine.”

***

Officer Judy Hopps was nervous.

It was understandable, of course. The job she had been working towards all her life was on the line. These two IAB suits would single handedly decide whether or not she could stay a police officer. If they decided she had broken a law or crossed a line, she would be stripped of her badge, and barred from ever re-applying to the force. Beyond that, she’d never be able to get a job in any kind of law enforcement or security ever again. Having the black mark of an IAB investigation was anathema for the ZBI or any private security company. If she was blacklisted, it was back to Bunnyborough for her. Her foot thumped against the chair. She shouldn’t be this nervous. She’d trained in interrogation back at the academy. This was practically lesson one: let the perp sit in the room, stewing in their own guilt. Then come in, offer a sympathetic ear, let them pour out all that stress. It was only used on the basic, street level criminals. 

So why was it working on her?

A rubber band of tension in her gut snapped when the door swung open, and the two IAB officers entered. Judy’s police instincts kicked in, and she took a mental snapshot of the pair, getting as many details as possible: one badger, one wolf, both in black suits, both wearing sunglasses, the badger with a battered tan briefcase. The wolf simply stood in the back of the room, leaning against the wall. The badger placed the briefcase on the table and extended a paw.

“Officer Hopps? I am Officer Murray, of the Internal Affairs Bureau, and that is my colleague, Officer Pierre.”

Judy hopped up on the table and shook his paw.

“Pleasure to meet you, Officer Murray, Officer Pierre.”

The wolf simply nodded. Both Judy and Murray say down. As he opened the briefcase, Judy decided to speak up and say what had been rattling through her mind all morning.

“If I may ask, what am I being investigated for?”

Murray chuckled slightly as he arranged papers in front of him. Once they were in the right place for him, he pulled a package of Camel cigarettes and lit one with a silver Hippo lighter. In the background, his partner did the same. He took a long drag, and blew a cloud of smoke into the air. Judy’s sensitive nose twitched. She was used to the smell of tobacco, living in the city required it, but she’d never been in a room with a smoker before. It was not pleasant.

“You are under investigation for torture, violating police procedure, and possible mob connections.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you kindly for all of your comments and kudos. Thank you to my editor and collaborater, who knows exactly who he is.

Judy’s ears made an audible _thwumpf_ as they flattened against her head. She was expecting maybe a complaint about unnecessary force or two, but _torture_?

“Torture?!” she cried out. She was about to keep going, but Murray held up a paw.

“Stay calm, Officer Hopps. We’re just going to go through each of charges one by one. All we’re looking for is an explanation. If you cooperate, and tell us what we need to know, you have nothing to fear.”

Judy didn’t really believe that, but she knew resisting would get her nowhere. She nodded, and her ears started to rise back up. Murray took another drag before grabbing a piece of paper from inside his briefcase.

“Now, let’s start with the most dramatic charge: torture.”

Judy nodded, heart still racing from the charges.

“During your investigation of the Night Howlers, you apprehended one Mr. Duke Weaselton, is that correct?”

Judy’s heart sank. She could see where they were going with this.

“Yes, that is correct.”

He passed over a mugshot.

“Is this the weasel you apprehended?”

Judy looked. Sure enough, the crazy eyes and too-small A-frame were unmistakable.

“Yes, that is Mr. Weaselton.”

“You apprehended him because you suspected he was tied to Night Howlers, is that correct?”

Judy rolled her eyes. Even though she knew her career hung in the balance, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of annoyance. It was probably Nick’s influence on her that make her say it.

“Yes. Why are you asking me all of these questions? Aren’t they all in my report?”

Murray silently took another drag.

“Yes, they are, we are merely trying to compare your report to the testimony we got from Mr. Weaselton.”

He tapped his cigarette in an ashtray on the table, knocking the ash off.

“It is after your apprehension of Mr. Weaselton that the two reports begin to diverge. Your report says that you simply took him to Tundra Town, found a clear area under an overpass, and interrogated him until he confessed to selling to Night Howlers to Doug, Ms. Bellwether’s associate. Am I correct?”

Her ears instinctively drooped, but she willed them to stand back up straight. She wondered if he noticed.

“Yes, that is correct?”

“And is your report…honest?”

Judy hesitated. What should she say? Would she lie, and try to protect her career? Or would she tell the truth, knowing the consequences would be dire?

“Yes. It is.”

“Completely?

“100%.”

She could feel her heart pounding as he leaned back in his chair. Would he buy it? Was she toast? Why was his partner sniffing the air so intently? Could he _smell lies?_ The wolf stepped forward and whispered something in Murray’s ear. He thought for a second, and nodded. Pierre left the room, and Judy and Murray were left alone.

“Well, now that’s strange. Because Mr. Weaselton claims that you and Officer Wilde took him to the residence of Mr. Big, a known Mafia boss, and had him threaten Mr. Weaselton with drowning in ice water. Under city law, threatening a perp with physical harm or death does count as torture.”

Despite her heart pounding, Judy kept an air of calm.

“And you trust his word over mine?”

Murray laughed. It was a harsh sound.

“I trust that weasel as much as I trust that those DVDs he sells. But I can connect the facts, and the fact is that you have a much stronger incentive to lie.”

“Really? But Weaselton is a ra-I mean, he’s a sellout! He’s sell his own grandmother if it got him out of trouble.”

“He is absolutely a sellout, but he’s also not dumb.”

A pause.

“He’s not as dumb as you’d think, anyway. Have you seen his rap sheet?”

Murray pulled another piece of paper and passed it over. Judy took it and her eyebrows went up in shock.

“This…is a long list.”

Murray nodded.

“Indeed. Much more than selling bootleg DVDs. Now tell me, when is his first criminal charge?”

Judy studied the page intently.

“It’s about…ten years ago.”

“Precisely. And since then he’s been a career criminal. Now, Officer Hopps, you are new to the force, though you’ve probably seen more action that most officers see in their whole careers. And one thing you will learn with more time spent in uniform is that truly dumb criminals do not last long. They either get locked up by you, or chewed up and spit out by Mr. Big and his ilk. Mr. Weaselton may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he must have some kind of cunning to him, to have lasted this long. Lying about being tortured by the biggest crime boss in the city would doom him.”

Murray extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray and shifted forward in his seat before looking Judy right in the eye. Despite the table between them, she felt like he was right in her face.

“On the other hand, imagine a newly minted cop who resigned after an emotional breakdown and is now desperate to get back on the force. She comes back to the force with all the pieces in place, and she solves the impossible case that had stumped everyone else. Do you think she’d want anyone looking too closely at how she got that information? She, the honest country bunny, might even try to _lie_ on her report. As long as she got to be a big city cop. Does that sound familiar…?”

It took every ounce of Judy’s nerves to not break down and start a teary confession. Instead, she simply tightened her lips and shook her head.

“No, I don’t think it does, Officer Murray.”

Officer Murray simply sat there for a minute, staring at Judy and thinking. He suddenly stood up from the chair and stepped outside.

“I have to make a call. We will resume in a moment.” He left, the door closing with a resounding thud behind him. Knowing that she only had a minute at best before he got back, she let all of her emotions out. She remembered studying back in the police academy that IAB interrogations were never recorded (too damaging if they got out) and she knew that the interrogation room was soundproof enough for a bunny. She just started running around the room, muttering to herself.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my GOD, I just LIED to an IAB investigator I am SO DEAD they’re gonna make me turn in my badge and I’m gonna have to go back to Bunnyborough and my parents are going to be so emberassed and I am DEAD”

After that rant, Judy hopped back into her seat and took a few seconds to calm her breathing. Right on cue, the door opened, and Murray walked back in. He took his seat, and Judy raised an eyebrow.

“I have an outside investigator looking up a lead on the torture case. We will consider that in the air for now. You are not cleared, but we cannot continue until I have more information. Until I get a call back from my colleague, we will move on to your other complaints.”

Judy nodded, and internally sighed with relief. This lead from the outside might still blow her lie out of the water, but at least he hadn’t completely called her out on it. She had earned a few more minutes.

“Now, your violation of police procedure. These are much less serious, and admittedly fairly minor. However, thoroughness and justice demands that the IAB take all complaints seriously.”

Despite the intensity of the situation, Judy can’t help but smile slightly as Murray digs around in his briefcase for a few more papers. He reminded Judy of what she had been like back when she first started, following the law the its exact letter.

“Now, we have around 682 complaints about your conduct as a parking enforcement officer.”

Judy’s nose twisted in frustration. She’d been given meter maid duty for two weeks after the Night Howler incident, and it had been painfully boring. She knew it wasn’t out of malice: Bogo gave her the job so she could learn the layout of Zootopia without running into any risk.  Still, it had been mind-numbingly boring, and the heaps of abuse she had been given didn’t help matters.

“However…roughly 677 of these were simply citizens angry that you had ticketed them seconds after their meter expired, and that is not illegal. Overzealous, maybe, but not illegal. Those complaints are disregarded. Three more complaints are from the manager of Guns and Rodents, who was irritated that you booted the band’s van. So irritated, he filed three reports for the same incident.”

Judy sniggered slightly.

“Well, they were parked illegally.”

Something like the ghost of a smile went across the badger’s face.

“Indeed.  That leaves only two complaints with any substance. One is from a…William Furrton, who claims you were deliberately waiting by his meter to fine it. This…isn’t technically illegal, but I think we can both agree it was…in bad taste.”

Judy’s ears drooped slightly, and she nodded.

“I agree. I shouldn’t have been waiting right next to it.”

“So, if you avoid any incidents like this in the future, I see no harm in simply letting it be scrubbed from the record.”

Her ears perked right back up. She was being given mercy by an IAB officer? That was new.

“Now, as for this last complaint…Mrs. Emily Callaham claims that she was the victim of species profiling. She claims that after doing some shopping with her children, she came out to find a ticket on her car, and you driving away. She called after you to dispute the ticket, and according to Mrs. Callaham, you called her several species slurs, like ‘pork chop’, ‘ham hocks’, and, quote,  ‘bacon bundle on two legs’. Do you have any answer to these charges?”

“They are utterly false, sir, and I can prove it.”

Murray raised one eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“Yes. You see, I have this carrot pen that I always have on me, and whenever someone disputes a charge, I record the conversation just in case there’s trouble down the line.”

“I see. And this…carrot pen still has a recording from several months ago?”

“I’m being investigated for something that happened several months ago.”

“These complaints should have come up during your performance review after six months on the force, but Bogo decided to not address them, as he is wont to do,” Murray said with an edge in his voice. Judy smiled. That sounded like Bogo: tough as hell on his officers, but he wouldn’t dare let anyone else touch them. Until now, that is.

“It’s no longer on the pen, but I did turn it into an audio file. Here, I’ll send it to you.”

Judy pulled out her phone, and found the audio file labeled “PIG_TICKET_MAD”. She placed the phone on the table and hit play.

“What seems to be the problem, ma’am?” Her voice crackles out through the speaker.

“The problem? The problem is that you gave me a ticket!”

“Ma’am, your meter expired twenty five minutes ago.”

“So?”

“So…I gave it a ticket.”

“EXCUSE ME? I PAY TAXES SO THAT YOU CAN DRAW A PAYCHECK, BIGFOOT!”

“Ma’am, there’s no need to-“

“THE CUSS THERE ISN’T! I’LL HAVE YOUR LITTLE FLUFFY TAIL, YOU-“

Murray hit the stop button.

“I’ve heard enough. It’s clear Mrs. Callaham lied, and that you are clear of any blame.”

Judy put the phone back in her pocket, but not before sneaking a peek at a text from Nick:

**heads up, wolfie is sniffing up the place. might find something suspicious about certain scents on my uniform**

As Murray pulled out yet more papers from his briefcase, including a large manilla envelope, her imagination went into overdrive. Would Pierre find out about them? Surely it wasn’t that suspicious if some of Judy’s perfume showed up on Nick’s uniform. They were partners after all. But…there was a lot of perfume on his uniform…

“Miss Hopps?” Murray said, fairly loudly, which snapped Judy out of her reverie.

“I’m sorry, what? I was kinda distracted for a second.”

“Is something the matter?’

“What? No, no, nothing’s the matter.”

Murray raised an eyebrow.

“Are you certain? I’d be happy to let you have a little break, and resume the interrogation in a few minutes.”

“No, I’m fine, I promise, let’s just get this over with.”

Judy put on her best fake smile. Murray clearly didn’t buy it, but apparently he judged getting the interrogation done the higher priority.

“Okay. Now, the last item is a purely internal issue. There have been no complaints, but the IAB regularly searches through government records, looking for the names of police officers where they shouldn’t be. Several months ago, we did one of those routine searchs. Typically, they never bring up anything. This time, however, we found this.”

He passed a piece of paper across the table. While Judy looked it over, Murray lit another cigarette. Judy looked up, puzzled.

“This is a birth certificate. Why is it so concerning?”

“It is concerning, Miss Hopps, because you are listed as the godmother of the granddaughter of one of the largest crime bosses in this city-Mr. Big. When it first showed up, we mostly dismissed it-it had to be a case of mistaken identity. There are several Judy Hopps in this city, and it seemed absurd that a crime boss would allow a cop to be so close to the family, especially an honest one.”

There was a pause as Murray opened the manilla folder, and Judy felt a twinge of pride from being called an honest cop.

“However, just to be certain, we set up surveillance outside of St. Andshrew’s Catholic Church, the home parish of the Big crime family. Fast forward a month or two, and…”

Murray dumped the folder onto the table, and several pictures spilled out. It was Judy, kneeling in the snow next to the church, watching a ceremony through one of the stained glass windows.

“Is that you, Officer Hopps?”

Judy picked up the pictures, incredulous.

“Yeah, that’s me…the little girl was getting confirmed. I didn’t think it was a big deal!”

She looked up at Murray, eyes filled with fury.

“Why did you put a church under surveillance?! Do you have any idea how messed up that is?”

Murray raised a paw in his defense.

“Believe me, Miss Hopps,” and there was a twinge of pain in his voice that, despite her anger, made Judy trust him, “I am the last person in this city who wants a church to be put under surveillance. But, we decided that the risk an officer on Big’s payroll was too big.”

All the anger washed away, replaced by hurt.

“You think he’s bribing me?”

“No, not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“This is always how it starts. A cop does something nice for a criminal, even the criminal’s family. The criminal repays the favor, and suddenly the criminal isn’t a crook. He’s a friend. A confidant. Someone you trust. And then they ask you to turn a blind eye to some small thing. And you do, wanting to help a friend that helps you. And it’s not a big deal, it’s just a few stolen watches. And then one thing leads to another, and suddenly you’re on their payroll. I have seen it happen before, and I will see it happen again. I would prefer that it doesn’t happen to such a promising young officer.”

 

Judy simply sat back, stunned.

“I…I didn’t even think about that. I can see why that’s a risk. So…what do you want me to do? Just cut off all contact?”

“Do you think you could?”

Judy thought for a second.

“No. I like the little pipsqueak too much,”

Murray nodded.

“I expected as much. You can continue to visit the child, and her mother, but you must cut off contact with Mr. Big himself. Inform the mother that her father and you cannot even be in the same room together. We will continue regular surveillance, but if you follow the rules, we will end our investigation. Am I understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good.”

Murray then did something unexpected. He reached forward, and turned off a swtich in his briefcase with an audible _click_. Judy’s blood ran cold.

_Was that…_

“We are now completely off the record. This conversation is no longer being recorded, and what I am about to say never happened.”

_Oh, cuss._

Judy swallowed, hard, That meant her confession when he left the room was on tape. He had a record of her saying she lied to him. Unless, for some reason, he chose to not listen, she was dead. Completely dead. Still, might as well face death with dignity.

“We know about you and Officer Wilde.

 _Oh, **CUSS**_.

Her ears flattened against her back. Not only was she dead, her partner was dead.

“However…”

Her ears began to perk up again.

“I am fairly sympathetic to your case. My wife was a deer. I know how hard predator-prey relationships can be. As long as it does not interfere with your work, and as long as neither of you get put in a position directly above the other, I see no reason to add more stress to either of you.”

Judy was ready to jump out of her seat.

“Thank you, thank you so so much, Officer, I promise I won’t let you down.”

The badger simply nodded. Judy’s ears dropped as she noticed something.

“Wait, your wife _was_ a deer?

Murray ashed his cigarette and took another drag before answering.

“Yes. She passed in our third year of marriage.”

“Oh…I’m sorry.”

Murray waved her off.

“Don’t be. She’s in a much better place now. Besides, it’s one less weak point.”

Okay, that she really got mad at. Did this suit have any emotions at all?

“I’m…sorry, sir, but did you just say loving your wife was a weakpoint? That seems pretty heartless.”

Oops. That last part had just kinda…slipped out. It was probably a really bad idea to imply the mammal that had just given her a big break was heartless. Murray didn’t get mad, though. He simply thought for a second before suddenly turning to look Judy in the eye.

“Are you familiar with the MICE acronym?”

Judy racked her brains, going through all the stuff she’d read back at the academy, but she came up blank. She shook her head.

“Not surprised. It’s more common in the espionage community than the police community, though it’s beginning to break through. It describes the four most common reasons someone, be they a spy or a police officer, turn traitor. Before I joined the IAB, I was thoroughly investigated for each one.”

He counted off each letter on his paw.

“M. Money, Simple greed, and the most common reason. I make a solid salary at the bureau, and I have no expensive habits. I pay my debts on time, and I have no great desire for material goods.”

“I. Ideology. This is very rare in policing, as almost all criminals have no ideology beyond profit. A few officer have sympathized with some social movements so much they began to betray police secrets, but those incidents are few and far between.”

“C. Coercion. This is using something inside the animal for leverage. This is denying the addict their drugs, blackmailing the politician with compromising pictures. I have only three vices in this world: tobacco, weekly confession, and milkshakes. I had to quit smoking when I joined the bureau, just to prove I could. After I showed I could break the habit once, I was allowed to continue it.”

“E. Extortion. Using something, or someone outside the animal. My parents have passed. I was an only child. My wife is gone. We had no children. I am not close with anyone at my church. My friends are all in the Bureau, and are willing to sacrifice their lives for the job.”

He took a long drag before reaching his conclusion.

“In short, Officer Hopps, I have nothing tying me to this world. There is nothing that a crime boss could use as leverage over me. That is what I mean. I miss her, I miss her greatly. But I know I will be with her again someday, and in the meantime, I can do my job without fearing for her safety. That is what I mean.”

Silence between the two for a second. Murray reached forward and turned the recorder back on.

“Well, Officer, we seemed to have gone through every charge, and you have been cleared of all except one. You are cleared to resume police duties, though I am advising Bogo to keep you away from interrogations until-“

His phone buzzed. Quick as a cheetah, he answered it.

“Hello? Yes? ….really? Airtight, you say? Alright. Thank you, Pierce. Bye.”

The call had lasted less than a minute, but it had clearly been important. Murray seemed frustrated now.

“That was my colleague. He told me that Mr. Big has an alibi for where he was when Mr. Weaselton was allegedly tortured. As such, we are unable to prove his allegations. You are cleared of that charge.”

Murray reached forward and switched off the recorder again.

“I know you are guilty. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that you had Mr. Big dangle the perp over ice water to get him to confess.  I know you did, and I know you lied both on your report and to me. You should be guilty.”

He sighed. Judy waited. There was no way he’d turn the recording off just to say this.

“However, the evidence is stacked against me. There is no way it’d hold up in a court of law. Thus, I will be informing my superiors that you are cleared of all charges. But be warned, Hopps. I know the truth.”

Judy nodded soberly. She understood what he was doing for her. If he wanted to, the IAB could make her life a living hell for months. She wouldn’t be stripped of her badge at the end of it, but her name would be dragged through the mud, she would be suspended without pay for several months, and she’d always have a stain on her reputation.

“Look, I know what it feels like. I used to be a cop like you. I used to always pursue Justice, no matter what the cost. I’d bend the rules to save them. The ends always justified the means. But I found out that isn’t right. A cop who goes too far in the pursuit of justice can do just as much damage as a two-bit crook. I know you were under immense pressure, and that you wanted to save your city, and your job. But you must do the right thing, even when it is difficult. You could have taken Weaselton back here, he would have cracked. Might have taken a few hours, maybe even a few days. But he would have cracked. In the future, just…wait a moment, and think before you act. Make sure you don’t do the wrong thing for the right reasons.”

Judy nodded.

“I understand.”

“We will be watching you. Not terribly closely, but we’ll be keeping an eye on you. And if you screw up again, we will bring the hurricane down on you. I rarely give this kind of mercy. Don’t waste it, Hopps.”

“Understood.”

“Good.”

He switched back on the recorder.

“Officer Judy Hopps, in light of new evidence, you are cleared of all charges. I was unable to find solid evidence for any of the charges against you, and you are  hereby cleared to resume police work with no restrictions. This is Officer Murray, of the IAB.”

He switched off the recorder for the last time before standing up and straightening his suit. He extended his paw again.

“Officer Hopps, thank you for your cooperation.”

She took it and shook.

“Thank you, Officer Murray.”

She hopped up on the table and whispered in his ear, “for everything you did.”

Without another word, Judy hopped off the table and strode out of the interrogation room. As she left, she heard Murray call someone.

“Pierre…? I’m done with the rabbit. Bring him in.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your comments and kudos. My speed will slow significantly now, because real life is kinda hitting me like a freight train now, but I have not forgotten this.
> 
> Enjoy!

Nick had meant to do his paperwork. He really had.

 

It’s just…there were so many other things to do. _Interesting_ things.

 

Like check on his own police file. (True to the mayor’s word, it was clean)

 

Or check on Judy’s. (Clean. Not surprising.)

 

Or arrange all the coffee mugs in the break room into a pyramid. (It was art!)

 

Or polish his name tag. (Nice and shiny.)

 

Or see how fast he could spin his chair. (Really fast.)

 

Or spend a few minutes trying to keep his breakfast down.  (Too fast.)

 

And now, on his way back from the bathroom, he overheard McHorn and Delgato arguing over a subject Nick could talk about for hours: hip-hop.

“Tupack’s flow was unstoppable. He started spitting, and you couldn’t stop him!” McHorn insisted.

“Maybe, but he couldn’t touch the Notorious P.I.G.’s lyrics. That pig could tell a story.” Delgato fired back.

“Lyrics are nothing without flow. You want lyrics, you write poetry.”

“Flow is the skeleton of a rap. It’s essential, but it isn’t what you’re there for. Lyrics are the meat of raps. And P.I.G. had a lotta meat on his bones.”

“Yeah, in more ways than one,” Nick cut in. That got a laugh from both other officers.

“I mean, if you want lyrics AND flow, look no further than Gift of Gab from Predatorlicious. Mammal put rhymes in his rhymes.”

The conversation was cut short by the door to the office swinging open. Three pairs of eyes instinctively swiveled to the door. Standing in the doorway was…

“Hey, I saw that wolf this morning. He’s with the IAB. DIdn’t seem terribly chatty.”

Two pairs of eyes in the cubicle grew wide with fear.

“He’s IAB?! What the cuss is he doing here?!”

“He’s…er…investigating me and Judy.”

“Oh Lord…I’m sorry, man.”

Nick frowned. It might have been the criminal in him talking, but he hated people feeling sorry for him.

“I don’t know why you all are so scared of these guys. Yeah, I’ll admit they’re a little spooky, but they’re just mammals.” Truth be told, Nick understood exactly why these two feared the IAB, and he shared that fear. Still, you never got ahead in the underworld by being scared with everyone else. To advance, you had to face the things that held everyone else back.  It was with that attitude that Nick walked right up to the wolf and extended a paw.

“Nick Wilde, ZPD, how are ya?”

After a second, the wolf extended his paw.

“Officer Pierre Chastel, IAB. You must be the fox who helped solve the Night Howler’s case.”

“The one and only. And don’t let Judy convince you otherwise, solving that case was mostly me.”

Nick couldn’t tell the wolf’s reaction behind those sunglasses of his. It made Nick feel uncomfortable. He wanted to go get his shades from his desk. They were much nicer. If he was wearing those slick aviators, he’d be the superior mammal. Oh well.

“Indeed. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to do.”

Nick stepped to the side and bowed.

“Of course, after you.”

Pierre’s face stayed placid as he passed Nick, which irked the ex-conman. This wolf was good, no doubt about it. But there was some way Nick could get under his skin. He knew it. It was just a matter of time. Having nothing better to do (and hoping for more opportunities to irritate this IAB agent), Nick followed Pierre as he began sniffing down the hallway.  He continued down, sniffing at every cubicle, until he stopped at Anderson’s cubicle. Nick’s ears perked up. The agent had found something. He snuck into the cubicle while Nick stayed outside.

“Who occupies this office?”

Nick shrugged.

“Bear named Anderson. Don’t really know him, he mainly works Vice. Seems like an alright guy, if a little too into pawball.”

Pierre nodded, and scanned the cubicle. He looked over the pictures tacked up on the wall: pawball stars, some postcards from touristy places, and a few pictures of two bears, clearly in a relationship. He then began sniffing around, getting down on his knees and sniffing the carpet. Nick chuckled.

“Doubt you’ll find anything but crumbs down there, pal. Janitors never vacuum the individual cubicles.”

Pierre ignored Nick’s quip as he continued to sniff the ground, drawing closer to the desk. Nick sighed. Wolf 2, fox 0. Pierre’s nose followed an invisible trail along the carpet, up the side of the desk drawers, and underneath the desk itself. He got on his back, and fiddled with something under the desk. He came back out holding a small plastic baggie filled with a light blue powder. Nick suddenly stood up straight.

“What the cuss is that?”

Pierre held the bag up to the light.

“Can’t say for certain until we get it back to the lab, but it looks to be Instinct.”

Nick smirked. Another opportunity.

“Yeah, I know you got a nice nose, but what’s the drug?”

“The drug is called Instinct, also goes by Savage or Primal. It’s a highly diluted form of Night Howlers. Won’t make you eat your neighbors, but you get a powerful rush and you feel invincible. It’s fairly new, not surprised you didn’t know about it.”

Wolf 3, fox 0.

“You’re saying Anderson’s a druggie?”

Pierre shrugged as he placed the bag on the desk. He carefully opened the top, and pulled out a small spoon and a small Ziploc bag from inside his suit.

“I’m saying we found a bag of possibly illegal substances under his desk. Doesn’t mean anything until we have more evidence.”

He took a tiny sample from the stash and dropped it into the Ziploc. After tucking the spoon and sample back into his suit, he got back on the floor and replaced the sample. Standing up, he looked Nick right in the face, his expression unreadable.

“I’m also saying that if Anderson gets tipped off about what’s coming for him, you are going to jail for a very, very long time. Am I understood?”

Nick saluted.

“100%, sir.”

The wolf either missed or ignored the sarcasm as nodded and sniffed the air. He set off down the hall again, Nick right behind him.

“So…Pierre Chastel, eh? Not a typical name. Where are you from?”

“Medowlands. Third generation Zootopian.”

“…oh. Okay then. You grew up there?”

“No.”

Nick’s ears flattened. Was being a brick wall in conversations a requirement for joining the IAB?

“So where did you grow up?’

“Downtown.”

Pierre paused. He had found something. He followed the scent trail, until he arrived at the cubicle Nick had really been hoping he wouldn’t get to.

 

His and Judy’s.

 

“This is your cubicle, correct?”

“Yeah. You won’t find anything, though.”

Despite Nick’s assurances, Pierre stepped into Nick’s workspace. Nick forced his heartbeat to calm down. He had nothing to fear. He was a clean cop. And so was Judy. Judy was squeaky clean, there was nothing for Pierre to find. He swallowed.

_Keep it under control, fox._

Pierre had sniffed his way over the desk, and was now fixated on Nick’s coat. Nick’s hearbeat doubled, but he kept calm on the surface. Pierre paused.

“Odd,” he said to himself.

“Yeah, I know the place is messy. I’m a bachelor, so sue me.”

“The smell of this jacket is odd.”

Nick stood up straight.

“Why?”

Pierre looked right at Nick.

“Because I would not have expected a male fox’s jacket to smell like Enfurnity, a scent marketed primarily to…female rabbits.”

Nick’s gut froze.

_Oh, cuss, he knows._

_Shut up, no he doesn’t. It’s perfectly reasonable for my jacket to smell like my partner._

_She’s more than your partner._

_Shut up._

“Oh, I gave her my coat when it was raining a few days ago. Probably why it smells like that.”

“Probably,” Pierre replied with a twinge of doubt. He continued sniffing while Nick pulled out his phone. He sent a text to Judy. She probably wouldn’t get it until after the interrogation, but it was worth a shot.

**heads up, wolfie is sniffing up the place. might find something suspicious about certain scents on my uniform**

He sent it right as Pierre stopped again, this time at Judy’s desk. He picked up the bulletproof vest that was draped over the back of her chair and sniffed it.

“Hey, you some kinda pervert? She wears that, y’know.”

Nick wished Pierre would stop looking at him so cussing much. It’s not that he was scared, it’s just the wolf unnerved him.

“She wears it?”

Nick snorted.

“Does it look like it’d fit me?”

“Then why does it smell of Versaces Vulpes, a fox’s cologne?”

Alright, THAT was harder to explain.

_You know exactly why it smells like that._

_Oh, c’mon, it’s not my fault she fits right in my lap when I’m doing paperwork._

“I dunno. Maybe she was buying perfume and she got some cologne on her?”

“In a bulletproof vest?”

Nick knew he had no answer to that. After a second, Pierre replaced the vest and moved on. Nick was tempted to just stay in his cubicle, but a mixture of curiosity and fear made him continue after the wolf. It didn’t take long before he ducked into another cubicle, this one belonging to Officer Trunkaby. There was no sniffing around here; the agent went straight for the jar of roasted peanuts that sat on the desk. He opened it, and dumped out a single peanut.

“I can see the headlines now: ‘Results of IAB probe released: Elephants like peanuts!’ You’ll get your name in the papers, my friend. Make sure they photograph your good side.”

Pierre simply grabbed the jar and poured it out on the desk. Sitting in the middle, previously buried in the middle of the jar, was another small baggie of the same blue powder. Nick’s jaw dropped. How could the wolf have smelled that? It was buried in a jar of peanuts. To be able to smell a baggie of dope surrounded by roast peanuts…that took skill. And a good nose. Nick decided to reevaluate the wolf. He had earned Nick’s respect.

“How did you find that?”

Pierre finally responded.

“Because I was looking for it.”

Nick was left unable to answer as the IAB agent carefully refilled the jar, putting the baggie back where it had been in the jar. Before screwing the top back on, Pierre grabbed two peanuts. He popped one in his mouth, and tossed the other to Nick. The fox was so surprised he almost didn’t catch it.

“T-thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Don’t you have paperwork you need to be doing?”

“Right. I’ll get on that.”

Nick returned to his cubicle. He booted up his computer, but his mind was running circles around itself.

_If that agent was good enough to find that baggie in the middle of a jar of peanuts, he could smell exactly how strong Judy’s perfume was on my jacket. There’s a whole lot more than one night’s worth on there._

Despite the circumstances, Nick couldn’t help but smile as he remembered how Judy looked in the coat that was several sizes too big for her. It was practically a dress on her. He looked over to her side of the cubicle.

_Wonder how she’s doing in that interrogation._

He looked at the clock. She’d been in there roughly half an hour. As he turned back to his computer, his eyes passed over the bulletproof vest. He winced.

_Why, oh why, did she have to take it off before going in?_

_Because it gets hot in there, and the Kevlar is uncomfortable._

_Shut up, it was a rhetorical question._

Nick got lost in this own thoughts until a knock on his cubicle snapped him out it.

“Officer Wilde?”

Nick looked up. Pierre was standing right outside.

“Yes?’

“You’re up. Let’s go.”

Nick swallowed, and followed the agent.


End file.
